Xenarthran Family Portrait

A few years back, I became fascinated with the tree sloth, and discovered that it is one of only three remaining species belonging to a particular superorder called Xenarthra. The other two are the anteater and the armadillo. (From Wikipedia: "Xenarthrans share several characteristics that are not present in other placental mammals. The name Xenarthra, which means 'strange joints,' was chosen because their vertebral joints have extra articulations and are unlike those of any other mammals — a character referred to as 'xenarthry.'") I thought it would be funny to create an old-school Sears-style family portrait triptych of the three species. This sloth-girl was the inspiration for the slothgirl character in Red Hook Blues.